It Takes Two
by SSBFreak
Summary: (Crash Nitro Kart fic) Fed up with the way Velo treats him, can Norm escape?


It Takes Two  
  
The sun was shining brightly during the middle of the day as four racers tore through a racetrack built inside a packed coliseum. The stands were filled the the rim with cheering aliens.  
  
Everyone sitting in the stands of Velo's Citadel cheered wildly, some for the evil emperor himself and some for the trio of bandicoots he was racing. Normally, everyone would be cheering for Velo, but the trio of strange bandicoots had gained a lot of popularity in one day, proving that they could be a challenge to Velo by defeating the four champions Krunk, Nash, Norm(both of them) and Geary.  
  
Among those cheering were three of the four champion racers that the three bandicoots had beaten. Standing in a room closed off from the coliseum were Krunk and Big Norm, both watching the three bandicoots race Velo on a TV screen. Little Norm, the small, quiet mime, sat off to the side, reading a book, while Nash, the caffeine-injected shark, lay off to the side, still sound asleep from when Coco Bandicoot told his brain to go to sleep. Geary, the tidy robot, was also cheering for the three bandicoots, but was being forced to clean the entire coliseum at the same time as punishment for his loss against Crash Bandicoot.  
  
Truth be told, all four champions had gained a respect for the three furry creatures from Earth after their respective defeats. Krunk had admitted that his planet was a copy of Earth, when he had always said it was the other way around. Crash had even given the giant his yo-yo as a gift. While Nash didn't show it and instead complained about his loss, he too respected the three of them, mainly Crunch, the one that defeated him. Big Norm congratulated the bandicoots saying that they were a great team and that they had a good chance of winning. Crunch had added that Big and Little Norm were a good team as well. Geary was even pitching in on the kindness, dusting off Crash's fur, as it was filthy because of all the dust from the race he had with the robot. He would've done something better had Velo not ordered him to clean the entire coliseum as punishment.  
  
Big Norm bit his lip and started sweating as Coco had turned around the final corner, pulling just ahead of the vile emperor. He was cheering for the bandicoots ever since his loss. He and Krunk watched as Coco raced neck- and-neck with Velo while Crash and Crunch brought up the rear, taking on Velo's followers to make sure that they didn't interfere with Coco.  
  
Big Norm's eyes widened as he saw Coco zoom in front of Velo and throw a Bowling Bomb behind her, knocking Velo back. This was enough, as Coco zoomed past the finish line, followed by Crash and Crunch before Velo finally recovered and crossed the finish line.  
  
Big Norm and Krunk found themselves shouting in victory, as they knew that Velo had finally been defeated. The sound of the two giants shouting had caused Little Norm to snap his head to look at the screen with wide eyes, and also making Nash wake up.  
  
"What happened?!" Nash asked as he rushed over to Big Norm and Krunk. Little Norm nodded as he too rushed over.  
  
"Crash and friends defeat Velo!" Krunk replied. "Velo no longer champion!"  
  
Nash and Little Norm were silent for a few seconds before both joining in the victory shouts as well. (Well, Little Norm simply lifted his arms above his head an made it look like he was shouting)  
  
Later, the four champions watched as Crash, Coco, Crunch and the fourth member of the team, Fake Crash, vanished from sight, all four of them finally going back to Earth. Big Norm smirked, knowing that Velo had finally met his match. Everything was finally alright again.  
  
Suddenly, Big Norm's smirk vanished. No, things weren't alright. There was still something that needed to be done, but the question was if he could go through with it.  
  
Big Norm's face hardened. He knew what needed to be done. He looked towards his short friend. "Hey, Little Norm. Come here for a second." He said.  
  
Little Norm approached his racing partner and looked up at him. The look on his face told Big Norm that he was wondering what was the matter. Big Norm crouched low and whispered something into Little Norm's ear. The small mime's eyes sprang open and looked at Big Norm with a look that read 'Are you serious?'.  
  
Big Norm nodded as he turned to his right, ending up facing Krunk. "Krunk, I need you to get Nash and Geary. Meet us in front of the world warps." He instructed.  
  
Although confused, Krunk nodded as he walked off to find Geary.  
  
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"Now that all of us are here, could you tell us what the problem is?" Nash asked impatiently.  
  
Everyone else was gone from the citadel. The only ones remaining were the four champions, all of which were standing in front of the warps that led to the four different worlds.  
  
"Listen, guys." Big Norm replied. "What I'm about to tell you guys has been kept secret, as we were afraid Velo would kill us."  
  
Everyone nodded, as they all realized that this was something important to both Norms.  
  
"Okay." Big Norm replied as he took a deep breath. "Little Norm and I are getting out of here. We've decided to escape from here and go to another world where Velo won't find us."  
  
Everyone else's eyes sprang open. Even Geary's eyes shined brighter.  
  
"You can't be serious!" Nash shouted. "Why would you try and escape when Velo could hunt you down?!"  
  
"Look. Right about now Little Norm and I would actually prefer to die in space than live on as Velo's slaves." Big Norm pointed out. "You guys have no idea what he's put us through."  
  
"Why can't you just go back to Fenomena?" Krunk asked.  
  
Big Norm sighed as his eyes became misty. Little Norm's eyes were similar. This was the question that the two of them were hoping wouldn't surface.  
  
"Let me ask you guys a question." Big Norm said. "Have you ever wondered why you never see any of our people around here?"  
  
Everyone was silent. They had never really thought about that.  
  
"He's right." Krunk pointed out. "My family stops by every once in while, as does Nash's family. Even Geary's creator visits."  
  
"What does that have to do with anything?" Nash demanded.  
  
More tears came from Big Norm's eyes. "You guys really wanna know why you never see any of our people?!" He shouted. He fought back even more tears as the other three champions nodded.  
  
"Because there aren't any left!"  
  
Everyone froze as Little Norm was reduced to a crumpled, crying heap on the ground. Even Nash was completely still for once.  
  
"What?" Geary asked.  
  
Big Norm sniffed. "Years ago, Fenomena so populated that we were considering building space colonies for when the planet got too overpopulated. We were a peaceful people, never wanting to be the cause of a fight. You see, on Fenomena, two of our people are chosen at birth to become a team, no matter how different they are. That's why Little Norm and I are so different, yet we've been a team forever." He explained. "Everyone on our planet loved to race, but no one raced without the assistance of his or her team member. This way, everyone would become almost unstoppable. Unfortunately, this attracted the attention of Velo. He was looking for a pair of champions from Fenomena to race for him. He arrived and ordered that the best team on the planet go with him to become his racing servants. Now, we may have been a peaceful people, but we know a threat when we hear one."  
  
"So what did you do?" Nash asked, clearly interested in the story.  
  
"The whole planet rose against Velo and told him to get his sorry behind off of the planet before they gave him the trouncing of his life. Needless to say, Velo got mad." Big Norm replied. "He grabbed Little Norm and I and got off the planet. Now, he realized that the planet wouldn't take too lightly to him abducting some of their people and he knew that he wouldn't stand a chance against so many teams."  
  
"What happened?" Geary asked.  
  
Big Norm tried so desperately to hold back tears that his answer was just above a whisper.  
  
"He destroyed Fenomena and everyone on it."  
  
Krunk, Nash and Geary stared in shock as Little Norm continued his crying. "But...That's impossible!" Geary cried. "You guys race on Fenomena!"  
  
Big Norm shook his head. "Not true. Once we arrived here, Velo had a copy of Fenomena built so that Little Norm and I could race on familiar ground." He sighed. "If you can call one hub, three racetracks and one battle arena a copy. That's all we have."  
  
The other champions were completely speechless. "So...You two are the only ones of your people left?" Krunk asked, his own eyes starting to become misty. He wasn't the only one crying. Drops of oil were coming from Geary's eyes, and if he didn't have a snorkel of water in front of his eyes, Nash would be crying too.  
  
Big Norm sighed in relief. "No, thankfully. Some of our people were in another galaxy purchasing some more material needed to build the space colonies. But who knows where they are now. They probably think we're all dead."  
  
Everyone watched as Big Norm tried his best to wipe his tears away. Krunk and Geary dried their eyes as well.  
  
"You two are welcome to come back to Terra with me." Krunk offered.  
  
"Or Teknee." Geary replied. "I'm sure we can make room for two more."  
  
"Even Barin is open for you guys if you'd like." Nask added, showing a rare case of kindness.  
  
Big Norm smiled weakly. "Thanks for the offers, guys." He said. "But Little Norm and I have the perfect planet in mind."  
  
The others nodded in understanding.  
  
"What do we do?" Krunk asked.  
  
"You guys need to get back to your own worlds and destroy to warp hole leading here so Velo won't be able to get you guys again." Big Norm said. Little Norm dried his eyes and stood up.  
  
"Well then, I guess this is goodbye." Nash said, a little upset.  
  
"I guess so." Krunk said. He quickly pulled everyone, both Norms included, in for a big bear hug. "I'll miss you guys! Next time any of you come to Terra, let me know. I'll welcome all of you with open arms."  
  
"Yeah. That goes the same with me." Nash added. "You'll probably find me racing around one of my tracks."  
  
"I shall miss every one of you guys." Geary said, rubbing the oil out of his eyes with a cloth. "Teknee is always open for visitors."  
  
After everyone said a final goodbye, Krunk, Nash and Geary all walked into the warps leading to their worlds. Both Norms stayed behind and didn't leave the area until they were sure that their three friends would destroy their respective warp holes, thus eliminating quick access to any of the other worlds.  
  
Big Norm smirked once he saw all three of the warp holes fade away until they were nothing but a trio of stone archways in the wall of the citadel.  
  
Big Norm looked down at his friend. "Let's go find a ship, Little Norm." He said. "We'll be out of this prison in a flash!"  
  
Little Norm nodded as the two of them fell to the ground in the form of two puddles. The puddles joined together and formed a lone figure, which turned out to be Little Norm wearing Big Norm's hat.  
  
Norm rushed through the citadel and sneaked through a doorway. Both Norms knew that Velo's guards were still hanging around in order to prevent people from stealing trophies or relics, and if they wanted to get a ship, they'd have to get around every guard they saw.  
  
After going through the door, Norm looked around. He saw that he was in a long hallway, pillars lined up the whole way down. He quickly saw that a couple of guards were walking around. And these weren't the normal, small guards that raced with Velo. These guards were almost as big as Big Norm and they both carried strange-looking guns. Norm wisely decided to hide behind the nearest pillar and sneak around the guards that way. He easily sneaked around the guards and got by.  
  
Both Norms had been prisoners of Velo for so long that they knew the coliseum like the back of their hands, so they knew exactly where to go to get to the docking bay where all of Velo's ships were. Of course, the hardest part was for Norm to get past the guards without them being seen.  
  
Luckily, the docking bay wasn't too far away from the citadel, and Norm only had to sneak past four guards until he got to the door. Norm looked left and right a few times before silently opening the door and going through.  
  
On the other side of the door, Norm looked around. He was in the docking bay, which looked almost as big as the citadel itself. As expected, there were a couple of guards hanging around, as well as a couple of security cameras. Both Norms knew that there was no way to destroy the cameras, so if they were to get away from the planet, they'd have to been seen.  
  
Norm saw a ship sitting on the other side of the bay that caught his eye. It was small and sleek, so it could outrun Velo's ships for sure. There was also a gun turret on the roof of the ship, so there would be defense when needed. Norm smirked. He had a feeling that this would be successful.  
  
Breathing in and out a few times, Norm dove out of his hiding spot and charged headfirst at the ship. Of course, the cameras spotted him, and sounded the alarm. In spite of this, Norm pressed on.  
  
The small mime quickly saw the two guards charging at him, yelling at him to stop and stick his hands in the air. But they underestimated Norm. He plowed through the two guards, swatting them both with his arms. The guards were amazed at the power of the strikes, as they each found themselves at either end of the docking bay.  
  
Norm smirked. The advantage of both Norms uniting was the fact that they now had Little Norm's speed combined with Big Norm's strength, thus making them almost like a fast tank.  
  
Quicker than expected, Norm found himself at the feet of the desired ship. Luckily, the ramp leading into it was down, allowing access to it. Norm scrambled up the ramp and rushed to the pilot's booth before the guards caught up.  
  
Norm quickly reached the pilot's booth, where two seats were stationed in front of the controls. Norm sat down at one of the seats and pressed a few buttons, retracting the ramp. Norm quickly stood up, walked in between the two seats and dissolved into a puddle, which split into two puddles, each of them rising into the forms of Little and Big Norm.  
  
"Great work, Little Norm!" Big Norm said as he sat down at the other seat. "Now let's get outta this joint!"  
  
Little Norm nodded as he sat down at the original seat.  
  
Flipping a few switches, Big Norm activated the engine. Little Norm grabbed the controls and pressed a button, allowing the engine to lift the ship off the ground vertically. Little Norm turned the ship in place to face the door, which was starting to close due to being alerted by the alarm.  
  
Big Norm jammed his finger down on a big, green button, igniting the jet thrusters on the back of the ship, sending the entire ship rocketing out of the docking bay and out of the citadel with plenty of time to spare. Once the ship was outside, Little Norm tilted the ship to go upwards, and the ship was out of orbit in a flash.  
  
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A good while later, both Norm's ship was flying through space at a fast speed. Neither of them felt this excited since they were elected the best racing team on Fenomena.  
  
Big Norm looked at an electronic map for a few seconds before turning back to his friend. "We should arrive at the planet in about ten minutes." He received a nod from Little Norm, who didn't take his hands off the controls.  
  
Suddenly, the Norms heard something that sounded like it was coming from space. The noise almost sounded like a siren. Big Norm quickly looked at the radar and saw four small ships starting to surround them. Looking out the window, Big Norm saw a red ship flying beside theirs, a flashing beacon on top of it. The unmistakable symbol of Velo marked the sides of the ship.  
  
Big Norm growled. "It's Velo's automated force!" He said. He realized that these computer-controlled ships wouldn't let them go, so he turned to Little Norm. "You keep flying this thing." E instructed. "I'll man the gun and take these twerps down."  
  
Little Norm nodded again, although he was starting to sweat. Big Norm quickly got up and rushed out of the pilot's booth.  
  
Big Norm quickly ran through the small ship until he spotted a ladder going up. He grabbed the ladder and climbed up, quickly finding himself in the gun's cockpit. A chair was stationed behind the triggers of the gun, which were positioned behind an electronic screen, showing Velo's ship flying around a crosshair. Big Norm quickly sat down and looked through the crosshairs, grabbing the twin triggers that would fire the gun.  
  
Big Norm started sweating. It wasn't because of ammo usage. The gun generated it's own. The trick was that he needed to destroy all four ships before they returned fire and destroyed their ship.  
  
Once Big Norm saw one of Velo's ship pass through the crosshairs, he jammed both triggers of the gun, firing two bolts of plasma out of the turret, striking the ship and instantly destroying it.  
  
Once the other ships saw the ship blow up, they instantly started firing on the Norm's ship. Big Norm instantly retaliated, firing shots as he followed one of the ships that flew past him. Somehow, the final few shots struck the ships, also destroying it.  
  
Big Norm saw that one of Velo's final two ships was flying straight at him, firing shots at the same time. Big Norm's eyes widened as he jammed the triggers as hard as he could. He needed intensely accurate shots if he as to get out of this.  
  
Amazingly, all of Big Norm's shots struck the shots that were constantly coming from Velo's ship. The shot coming from Big Norm proved superior, finally striking it, downing it as well.  
  
The final ship realized that it wouldn't have a chance alone, so it turned around and started flying away to return to where it came from.  
  
Big Norm wasn't about to let it escape, as it would call more ships and track them down. Firing several more shots, Big Norm waited until they struck the back of the fleeing ship, sending it up in a ball of fire.  
  
Big Norm smirked in triumph. Before going back down the ladder, he looked around to check and see if there were any more ships hanging around. When he was satisfied, Big Norm got out of the chair and went down the ladder.  
  
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Little and Big Norm's ship continued flying through space, entering the same solar system as their destination planet. Luckily, they hadn't encountered any more ships to slow them down.  
  
The ship flew past several planets that were in their way and continued flying. They were too determined to get to their destination that they ignored everything else in their way and flew past whatever was as quick as they could.  
  
Looking at the screen one more time, Big Norm saw that their destination was real close. He turned back to Little Norm. "The next planet is the one we want! We're almost there!" He said in excitement.  
  
Little Norm grinned like a child looking through a toy store window as he continued flying.  
  
Both Norms looked in awe at the planet that lay before them. They looked at each other and looked back before Little Norm continued flying.  
  
In a flash, the ship had entered the planets ozone layer. Big Norm pressed a few buttons on the radar and looked at it. He saw a blip come up on the radar and pointed to the right. "Turn that way slightly and keep going straight." He directed.  
  
Little Norm nodded as he turned the ship slightly to the right and continued flying. The ship was now soaring over the many oceans of the planet.  
  
Soon, after a few more directions from Big Norm, the ship saw a piece of land sticking out of the water. Resting not too far away from the cliff was a small village of several houses.  
  
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Young Coco Bandicoot sat n a rock, typing up something on her laptop. Suddenly, she felt like the wind was picking up. She looked up from her laptop as her hair flapped in the wind.  
  
As it turned out, the wind wasn't picking up. Coco's eyes sprang open as she saw a small ship coming straight at the cliff the village was resting on. Coco leapt to her feet and ran off towards the village.  
  
"Everyone! Come quickly! A ship's coming in for a landing!" Coco cried throughout the village.  
  
In a flash, Crash, Crunch, Aku Aku, Fake Crash, Tiny, Dingodile, Ripper Roo, N. Brio, Pura and Polar were outside and had joined Coco outside, who was watching the ship land not too far away.  
  
Although curious, everyone prepared themselves for a fight as they slowly approached the ship as the jet thrusters died down until they were off completely.  
  
Once the thrusters died down, the engine stopped. The door to the ship opened as the exit ramp deployed, touching the ground. Two figures emerged from the belly of the ship. Once the figures were out in the open, all four bandicoots put their fists down, each of them recognizing the figures. Tiny, Dingodile, Pura and Polar didn't recognize them, as they never faced them in a race.  
  
"Norm!" Coco and Crunch said as they rushed towards the mimes, who had just got off the ramp. Crash and FC joined them.  
  
"Boy, it's great to see you guys!" Coco said as she wrapped her arms around Little Norm.  
  
"You said it!" Crunch added as he gave Big Norm a good, firm handshake. "What are you guys doing all the way out here anyway?"  
  
"We escaped from Velo." Big Norm replied. "We've had it with him bossing us around, so we stole this ship and got the heck off the planet."  
  
"What about the others?" Coco asked.  
  
"Krunk, Nash and Geary are back on their own worlds, and Velo has no access to their planets anymore." Big Norm said with a smirk.  
  
"Well, why aren't you two on your own planet?" Crunch asked.  
  
Big Norm filled everyone in on what happened. Staring from how populated Fenomena was to the destruction of the planet to them racing on an uncompleted copy of it. Once Big Norm was finished, everyone else was left speechless.  
  
"Oy, that's some sad story you've got, mates." Dingodile said.  
  
Big Norm nodded as he wiped a tear away.  
  
Aku Aku was silent, as if pondering the whole situation over. After a few seconds, he looked up. "I think I get what you're saying. You're looking for a home since Velo destroyed your planet." The floating mask deduced.  
  
Both Norms nodded furiously.  
  
"Well, I can say that we'd be happy to welcome you both, just as long as you both agree to help us fight our continuing battle against Cortex." Again, both Norms nodded. Aku Aku smiled warmly. "Then it's settled. Welcome home, Norm."  
  
Everyone instantly gathered around both Norms and individually said that they'd all be happy to help build a hut for the Norms to live in. (well, everyone that could talk) They were all glad that they had two new people to add to their list of allies.  
  
"How did you guys manage to get through Velo's defenses anyway?" Crunch asked.  
  
"It takes two." Big Norm said with a smirk.  
  
END  
  
Author's notes: Keep in mind that every Crash fic I write from now on will now have both Norms as members of Crash's team. Please read and review! 


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